Jakarta – A group of mothers, young people and women who are members of the Voices of Indonesian Mothers (Suara Ibu Indonesia) are urging the government to halt the free nutritious meals (MBG) program following cases of mass poisoning in various regions.
They held a demonstration in front of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) offices in Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday October 15. Monitoring at the location showed that the demonstrators carried banners with various messages.
One large banner read, "Stop the MBG, Prioritise Quality, Safety and Children's Dignity". Another read "STOP MBG! Return [the provision of] Nutritious Food to Families and Schools".
In a statement, they expressed concern and anger over the repeated cases of mass poisoning affecting thousands of school children as a result of the MBG program.
The program, which was claimed to be a solution to address school children's nutrition, has actually given rise to a health crisis, an accountability crisis and a moral crisis in state governance.
Citing data from the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI), they alluded to the more than 10,482 children who have fallen victims to MBG poisoning in various regions.
"Instead of making it a mandatory program, it would be appropriate to just return this program to 3T (disadvantaged, frontier and outermost) regions and/or children from pre-prosperous families who need special intervention to improve nutrition", read the statement by the Voices of Indonesian Mothers.
According to the group, the MBG budget, which takes up the majority of education funds, should be used to improve teacher welfare, the infrastructure of 3T schools and build healthy community-based canteens managed by schools, teachers and parents.
TNI-Polri involvement criticised
The Voices of Indonesian Mothers is also concerned about the government's move to involve the TNI (Indonesian Military) and the Polri (National Police) in the distribution chain and oversight of the program.
The move is seen as showing the militarisation of civil affairs and the opening of new opportunities for abuse of power in the public sphere. After all, the military is not a food agency, and its job is not to manage the nutrition or meals for schoolchildren.
"Therefore, we demand that the government halt the MBG project throughout Indonesia. This program has failed to guarantee the safety, health and inclusiveness of children. Remove the involvement of the TNI and Polri from all aspects of the MBG implementation and other programs related to the civilian sphere", they said.
The Voices of Indonesian Mothers also called for an independent national audit of all vendors, school kitchens and the MBG supply chain, and for the results to be published publicly.
They are aware that many informal workers, mothers and school kitchen workers have been relying on the MBG program for their livelihoods. They also understand that many children in schools need additional nutritional intake.
"However, when the small-scale workers recruited lack adequate job protection, and children's food isn't handled to strict safety standards, what should be a relief program can potentially become a disaster", said the group. (yoa/dal)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Ibu-ibu Geruduk Kantor BGN, Desak Setop MBG".]
